Evaluating Our Video
View more presentations from carlpercival.
Friday 30 April 2010
Thursday 29 April 2010
Thursday 22 April 2010
Scripted Evaluation
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Caroline:
Most film noirs are, after filming, edited to create a black and white movie. This is a generic convention and we feel we have incorporated this well into our opening sequence.
The characters within our film noir both reflect and challenge the forms of convention for the chosen genre. We have the traditional hard-boiled detective, damsel in distress and a femme fatale character. The way in which we challenge the convention is that one of the characters, the crime scene detective, is a woman. In the 1950’s there were a minority of woman workers because they didn’t have as many rights as male workers overall, in our film noir we show her as someone low down in the authority chain. We also reflect film noir conventions by having our chief detective as our murderer. This is similar in the well-known film noir, L.A Confidential, whereby the murderer is revealed at the end of the film. This altogether, creates an opening sequence for a film noir that is equal to that of a traditional film noir with no subgenres.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Christopher:
We feel our product doesn’t necessarily represent a particular social group due to it being well suited to any audience ranging from the age of fifteen to fifty+. The only type of social group that is shown in our opening sequence is the male superiority and the inferiority of females. This is stereotypical of both film noir and of the opinion of most audiences, for example, we show our detective in a high angled shot and the crime scene detective, the female, in a low angled shot, showing through camera angles the hierarchy.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Ashleigh:
We feel that the institution most likely to distribute our film would be TCM. Our product, in our opinion, would also possibly be produced by Hollywood due to the American background and some other film noirs such as L.A Confidential are Hollywood made. The reason the film would be produced in the first place is because we feel it could be a big money maker, this is because it challenges the forms of film noir and there isn’t many directors making them so it would be a welcome change to blowing stuff up. The mise en scene of our film noir is appropriate to the times we have set, 1950, and wouldn’t have a big costume budget. We show this through the use of suits for the males and the sub genre female. And dresses for the typical females of the time.
Who is and how did you attract your target audience?
Christopher:
Our target audience, as mentioned earlier, ranges from fifteen to over fifty depending on the tastes of the person. We think we could attract such a wide audience due to the wide range of characters and scenarios. The sequence is set in the 1950’s appealing to the older generation and has the violence and romance to appeal to a younger audience also. We show this through the use of a chase scene.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Ashleigh:
We learnt how to properly use a video camera and tripod to get the best effects we could from our shots before editing. After, we gained knowledge of how to use the editing programmes we were equipped with. This was accomplished through experimentation, seeing what went and what didn’t within the editing of our opening sequence. We learnt how to use I-Movie with the preliminary task, using transitions, titles and effect, Blogger, in which we learnt how to upload things to use for our exam, Photoshop, we learnt how to use this to edit images and create the news papers for our film, and finally Flash Mic, in which we used this to add in sound affects that we had missed, such as the scream when the woman gets shot and the soundtrack used throughout the sequence.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Josephine:
We feel that in our preliminary task we were just getting comfortable with using a camera and editing, learning the basics and editing it. In our film we feel we have developed not only in working with the technology but in understanding also. To create a successful opening sequence you need to understand the genre and plot of what you are creating because when a producer and directors understand it, it is easier for the audience relate, we did this through research. For our preliminary we didn’t do any research. We thought of a story and filmed it, as X-Factor was at it’s peak, there was nothing but story planning, where as with our opening sequence we did a lot research and there was a lot of planning to do.
Caroline:
Most film noirs are, after filming, edited to create a black and white movie. This is a generic convention and we feel we have incorporated this well into our opening sequence.
The characters within our film noir both reflect and challenge the forms of convention for the chosen genre. We have the traditional hard-boiled detective, damsel in distress and a femme fatale character. The way in which we challenge the convention is that one of the characters, the crime scene detective, is a woman. In the 1950’s there were a minority of woman workers because they didn’t have as many rights as male workers overall, in our film noir we show her as someone low down in the authority chain. We also reflect film noir conventions by having our chief detective as our murderer. This is similar in the well-known film noir, L.A Confidential, whereby the murderer is revealed at the end of the film. This altogether, creates an opening sequence for a film noir that is equal to that of a traditional film noir with no subgenres.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Christopher:
We feel our product doesn’t necessarily represent a particular social group due to it being well suited to any audience ranging from the age of fifteen to fifty+. The only type of social group that is shown in our opening sequence is the male superiority and the inferiority of females. This is stereotypical of both film noir and of the opinion of most audiences, for example, we show our detective in a high angled shot and the crime scene detective, the female, in a low angled shot, showing through camera angles the hierarchy.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Ashleigh:
We feel that the institution most likely to distribute our film would be TCM. Our product, in our opinion, would also possibly be produced by Hollywood due to the American background and some other film noirs such as L.A Confidential are Hollywood made. The reason the film would be produced in the first place is because we feel it could be a big money maker, this is because it challenges the forms of film noir and there isn’t many directors making them so it would be a welcome change to blowing stuff up. The mise en scene of our film noir is appropriate to the times we have set, 1950, and wouldn’t have a big costume budget. We show this through the use of suits for the males and the sub genre female. And dresses for the typical females of the time.
Who is and how did you attract your target audience?
Christopher:
Our target audience, as mentioned earlier, ranges from fifteen to over fifty depending on the tastes of the person. We think we could attract such a wide audience due to the wide range of characters and scenarios. The sequence is set in the 1950’s appealing to the older generation and has the violence and romance to appeal to a younger audience also. We show this through the use of a chase scene.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Ashleigh:
We learnt how to properly use a video camera and tripod to get the best effects we could from our shots before editing. After, we gained knowledge of how to use the editing programmes we were equipped with. This was accomplished through experimentation, seeing what went and what didn’t within the editing of our opening sequence. We learnt how to use I-Movie with the preliminary task, using transitions, titles and effect, Blogger, in which we learnt how to upload things to use for our exam, Photoshop, we learnt how to use this to edit images and create the news papers for our film, and finally Flash Mic, in which we used this to add in sound affects that we had missed, such as the scream when the woman gets shot and the soundtrack used throughout the sequence.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Josephine:
We feel that in our preliminary task we were just getting comfortable with using a camera and editing, learning the basics and editing it. In our film we feel we have developed not only in working with the technology but in understanding also. To create a successful opening sequence you need to understand the genre and plot of what you are creating because when a producer and directors understand it, it is easier for the audience relate, we did this through research. For our preliminary we didn’t do any research. We thought of a story and filmed it, as X-Factor was at it’s peak, there was nothing but story planning, where as with our opening sequence we did a lot research and there was a lot of planning to do.
Written Evaluation
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Most film noirs are, after filming, edited to create a black and white movie. This is a generic convention and we feel we have incorporated this well into our opening sequence.
The characters within our film noir both reflect and challenge the forms of convention for the chosen genre. We have the traditional hard-boiled detective, damsel in distress and a femme fatale character. The way in which we challenge the convention is that one of the characters, the crime scene detective, is a woman. In the 1950’s there were a minority of woman workers because they didn’t have as many rights as male workers overall, in our film noir we show her as someone low down in the authority chain. We also reflect film noir conventions by having our chief detective as our murderer. This is similar in the well-known film noir, L.A Confidential, whereby the murderer is revealed at the end of the film. This altogether, creates an opening sequence for a film noir that is equal to that of a traditional film noir with no subgenres.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
We feel our product doesn’t necessarily represent a particular social group due to it being well suited to any audience ranging from the age of fifteen to fifty+. The only type of social group that is shown in our opening sequence is the male superiority and the inferiority of females. This is stereotypical of both film noir and of the opinion of most audiences, for example, we show our detective in a high angled shot and the crime scene detective, the female, in a low angled shot, showing through camera angles the hierarchy.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We feel that the institution most likely to distribute our film would be TCM. Our product, in our opinion, would also possibly be produced by Hollywood due to the American background and some other film noirs such as L.A Confidential are Hollywood made. The reason the film would be produced in the first place is because we feel it could be a big money maker, this is because it challenges the forms of film noir and there isn’t many directors making them so it would be a welcome change to blowing stuff up. The mise en scene of our film noir is appropriate to the times we have set, 1950, and wouldn’t have a big costume budget. We show this through the use of suits for the males and the sub genre female. And dresses for the typical females of the time.
Who is and how did you attract your target audience?
Our target audience, as mentioned earlier, ranges from fifteen to over fifty depending on the tastes of the person. We think we could attract such a wide audience due to the wide range of characters and scenarios. The sequence is set in the 1950’s appealing to the older generation and has the violence and romance to appeal to a younger audience also. We show this through the use of a chase scene.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
We learnt how to properly use a video camera and tripod to get the best effects we could from our shots before editing. After, we gained knowledge of how to use the editing programmes we were equipped with. This was accomplished through experimentation, seeing what went and what didn’t within the editing of our opening sequence. We learnt how to use I-Movie with the preliminary task, using transitions, titles and effect, Blogger, in which we learnt how to upload things to use for our exam, Photoshop, we learnt how to use this to edit images and create the news papers for our film, and finally Flash Mic, in which we used this to add in sound affects that we had missed, such as the scream when the woman gets shot and the soundtrack used throughout the sequence.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We feel that in our preliminary task we were just getting comfortable with using a camera and editing, learning the basics and editing it. In our film we feel we have developed not only in working with the technology but in understanding also. To create a successful opening sequence you need to understand the genre and plot of what you are creating because when a producer and directors understand it, it is easier for the audience relate, we did this through research. For our preliminary we didn’t do any research. We thought of a story and filmed it, as X-Factor was at it’s peak, there was nothing but story planning, where as with our opening sequence we did a lot research and there was a lot of planning to do.
Most film noirs are, after filming, edited to create a black and white movie. This is a generic convention and we feel we have incorporated this well into our opening sequence.
The characters within our film noir both reflect and challenge the forms of convention for the chosen genre. We have the traditional hard-boiled detective, damsel in distress and a femme fatale character. The way in which we challenge the convention is that one of the characters, the crime scene detective, is a woman. In the 1950’s there were a minority of woman workers because they didn’t have as many rights as male workers overall, in our film noir we show her as someone low down in the authority chain. We also reflect film noir conventions by having our chief detective as our murderer. This is similar in the well-known film noir, L.A Confidential, whereby the murderer is revealed at the end of the film. This altogether, creates an opening sequence for a film noir that is equal to that of a traditional film noir with no subgenres.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
We feel our product doesn’t necessarily represent a particular social group due to it being well suited to any audience ranging from the age of fifteen to fifty+. The only type of social group that is shown in our opening sequence is the male superiority and the inferiority of females. This is stereotypical of both film noir and of the opinion of most audiences, for example, we show our detective in a high angled shot and the crime scene detective, the female, in a low angled shot, showing through camera angles the hierarchy.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We feel that the institution most likely to distribute our film would be TCM. Our product, in our opinion, would also possibly be produced by Hollywood due to the American background and some other film noirs such as L.A Confidential are Hollywood made. The reason the film would be produced in the first place is because we feel it could be a big money maker, this is because it challenges the forms of film noir and there isn’t many directors making them so it would be a welcome change to blowing stuff up. The mise en scene of our film noir is appropriate to the times we have set, 1950, and wouldn’t have a big costume budget. We show this through the use of suits for the males and the sub genre female. And dresses for the typical females of the time.
Who is and how did you attract your target audience?
Our target audience, as mentioned earlier, ranges from fifteen to over fifty depending on the tastes of the person. We think we could attract such a wide audience due to the wide range of characters and scenarios. The sequence is set in the 1950’s appealing to the older generation and has the violence and romance to appeal to a younger audience also. We show this through the use of a chase scene.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
We learnt how to properly use a video camera and tripod to get the best effects we could from our shots before editing. After, we gained knowledge of how to use the editing programmes we were equipped with. This was accomplished through experimentation, seeing what went and what didn’t within the editing of our opening sequence. We learnt how to use I-Movie with the preliminary task, using transitions, titles and effect, Blogger, in which we learnt how to upload things to use for our exam, Photoshop, we learnt how to use this to edit images and create the news papers for our film, and finally Flash Mic, in which we used this to add in sound affects that we had missed, such as the scream when the woman gets shot and the soundtrack used throughout the sequence.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We feel that in our preliminary task we were just getting comfortable with using a camera and editing, learning the basics and editing it. In our film we feel we have developed not only in working with the technology but in understanding also. To create a successful opening sequence you need to understand the genre and plot of what you are creating because when a producer and directors understand it, it is easier for the audience relate, we did this through research. For our preliminary we didn’t do any research. We thought of a story and filmed it, as X-Factor was at it’s peak, there was nothing but story planning, where as with our opening sequence we did a lot research and there was a lot of planning to do.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Friday 19 March 2010
Friday 5 March 2010
Monday 8 February 2010
The script for our film noir
The Script
It is a cold, dark night and a damsel is walking home along an alleyway next to some allotments after a long night out with her friends. Whilst walking she hears footsteps behind her, so she quickens her pace, to find that the person behind her does exactly the same thing. She peers behind her to see a silhouette of a tall man holding a gun. The damsel then drops her bag and runs as fast as she can to the end of the ally way. Realising that she’s getting away the man shoots her in the leg, resulting in her falling to the ground. He then pulls out a rope and strangles her to death, leaving her until some one finds her.
Night turns into day and the Damsel lies dead surrounded by police officers and crime scene investigators.
It is a cold, dark night and a damsel is walking home along an alleyway next to some allotments after a long night out with her friends. Whilst walking she hears footsteps behind her, so she quickens her pace, to find that the person behind her does exactly the same thing. She peers behind her to see a silhouette of a tall man holding a gun. The damsel then drops her bag and runs as fast as she can to the end of the ally way. Realising that she’s getting away the man shoots her in the leg, resulting in her falling to the ground. He then pulls out a rope and strangles her to death, leaving her until some one finds her.
Night turns into day and the Damsel lies dead surrounded by police officers and crime scene investigators.
Crime scene investigator; “She’s the same as the others”
Hard boiled detective; “It’s the fourth one this week, I’m sick of this shit!” (Flicks the end of his cigarette at the victim)
Chief Investigator grunts and glares at the body. The investigator along with the hard boiled detective walk away from the scene, leaving the chief of detectives/murdered glaring over the victim, whilst smoking the rest of his cigar. A femme fatale then appears at the opposite end of the ally leaning against the fence watching the chief of detectives.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Actors, Location and Costume/Props list
Actors List:
Character Types:
Hard Boiled Detective
Femme Fatale
Murderer
Crime Scene Investigators
Damsel
Caroline Huntley- Femme Fatale
Ashleigh Robinson- Damsel
Jo Liddle- Crime Scene Investigators
Chris Hodgson- Hard Boiled Detective
Alex Portway- Murderer
Locations List:
Main Location for shooting: Allotments close-by (made to look like a cityscape)
Some places indoors could be used to film parts with newspapers, photos etc.
Costumes & Props List:
Character Costumes:
Femme Fatale- Formal dress maybe red or a colour to stand out from the rest
Damsel- Typical 1950’s clothes, not too formal, could be ripped in some parts were she has been running away
Hard Boiled Detective- Long coat, shirt and tie, trilbee or other similar hat.
Crime Scene investigators- Similar to detectives, maybe glasses.
Murderer- Long black coat, hat, leather gloves.
Props:
Femme Fatale- Cigarette, Red Lipstick, Purse
Damsel- Bag
Hard Boiled Detective- Cigarette, Gun, Police Badge
Crime Scene investigators- Camera, maybe protective equipment, number cards next to the crime scene, possibly police tape
Murderer- Gun, Rope
Monday 1 February 2010
Thursday 28 January 2010
Film Noir History
Research collected on the history of film noir:
A film noir is traditionally used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, especially the type with sexual motivations and to emphasize cynical attitudes. Film noir is believed to of started from the early 1940’s stretching to the late 1950’s. This era of film noir is associated with a low key, black and white visual style. French critic ‘Nino Frank’ was the first person to use the term film noir. This was unknown to most American film industry professionals from this classical era. Film noir covers many different plots such as the lead role, which tends to be a detective, plain clothes police man, ageing boxer, hapless grafter, a law abiding citizen lured into criminal life, or a victim of incident.
In the beginning stages of a film noir most features where American productions, from the 1960 are onwards however film noir has been made throughout the world. Despite different producers and script writers, each individual film noir still contains attributes from the originals.
Neo noir are simply modern renditions and echoes of the classic version of film noir. “The first major film to overly work this angle, was French Director ‘Jean-Luc Godard’s’ Á Bout De Soufflé, which pays it’s literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day”. Film noir and Neo Noir are generally set post date (before the time they were filmed).
Visual styles of film noir – They tend to use low key lighting schemes which produce light and dark contrasts, giving the film a dramatic shadow patterning. Film noir has developed ‘a cliché’ of sorts, this being the shadow cast upon a scene from venetian blinds or banister rods; this came before the Neo era. Due to the intensity of darkness from the black and white contrast, sometimes the characters faces are partially or wholly obscured in darkness; this is rare in conventional Hollywood movie making. Many directors and movie critics consider black and white cinematography to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir.
Plots, characters and settings. – all film noirs have the element of crime – usually murder. Motivations for the crimes are generally greed or jealousy. There will be in all film noirs an investigator, whom is prevalent, but far from dominant. False suspicions and accusations of the crime are a common trait in the plot. The heroes in the plots of film noir, who are morally questionable, are often fall guys of some sort. Film noir is generally associated with urban settings in cities such as: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco etc. The cities where they are set are said to be by critics “like a labyrinth or maze” – including settings within bars, lounges, night clubs and gambling venues; these tend to be the scenes of action! Commonly in film noir there is a lot of filming set at night or whilst it is raining.
A film noir is traditionally used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, especially the type with sexual motivations and to emphasize cynical attitudes. Film noir is believed to of started from the early 1940’s stretching to the late 1950’s. This era of film noir is associated with a low key, black and white visual style. French critic ‘Nino Frank’ was the first person to use the term film noir. This was unknown to most American film industry professionals from this classical era. Film noir covers many different plots such as the lead role, which tends to be a detective, plain clothes police man, ageing boxer, hapless grafter, a law abiding citizen lured into criminal life, or a victim of incident.
In the beginning stages of a film noir most features where American productions, from the 1960 are onwards however film noir has been made throughout the world. Despite different producers and script writers, each individual film noir still contains attributes from the originals.
Neo noir are simply modern renditions and echoes of the classic version of film noir. “The first major film to overly work this angle, was French Director ‘Jean-Luc Godard’s’ Á Bout De Soufflé, which pays it’s literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day”. Film noir and Neo Noir are generally set post date (before the time they were filmed).
Visual styles of film noir – They tend to use low key lighting schemes which produce light and dark contrasts, giving the film a dramatic shadow patterning. Film noir has developed ‘a cliché’ of sorts, this being the shadow cast upon a scene from venetian blinds or banister rods; this came before the Neo era. Due to the intensity of darkness from the black and white contrast, sometimes the characters faces are partially or wholly obscured in darkness; this is rare in conventional Hollywood movie making. Many directors and movie critics consider black and white cinematography to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir.
Plots, characters and settings. – all film noirs have the element of crime – usually murder. Motivations for the crimes are generally greed or jealousy. There will be in all film noirs an investigator, whom is prevalent, but far from dominant. False suspicions and accusations of the crime are a common trait in the plot. The heroes in the plots of film noir, who are morally questionable, are often fall guys of some sort. Film noir is generally associated with urban settings in cities such as: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco etc. The cities where they are set are said to be by critics “like a labyrinth or maze” – including settings within bars, lounges, night clubs and gambling venues; these tend to be the scenes of action! Commonly in film noir there is a lot of filming set at night or whilst it is raining.
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Target Audience Research
Film Noir Target Audience
We intend to produce a film noir opening sequence with a rating of
15. Due to the research on target audience it means we could use some violence and bad language in the clip.
BBFC Classifications
Monday 25 January 2010
Opening Sequence Analysis
Sunset Boulevard Opening Sequence
The opening credits of Sunset Blvd start in a black and white context, with incidental sound of string instruments as the title reads “Announcing the most unusual motion picture in many years…”. A tilt shot follows the camera down to a kerb where it then reads “SUNSET BLVD” in a sort of film style font. A fast tracking shot sweeps across the screen backwards and names of actors in the film are then shown. The camera seems unsteady when moving, and gives a feeling of uncertainty- as does the jumpy non diegetic soundtrack played.
After a few characters names have been displayed from the credits, the shot changes and moves to a new scene outside a building. At the top of the frame we see “Paramount Presents” which is an official film making organisation and even at the time of the film (1950’s) it was a reputable company. The camera zooms towards the screen with sort of a camera lens feel (as it moves closer the outside of the frame turns black) and we see a crouded area of people with formal hats and some with cameras.
The scene changes again and we see an elderly looking woman, who seems to be dressed formally for the times and who is talking in a casual but forceful tone on the telephone. The props around the scene are an old fashioned telephone, a standing lamp, and ornaments. Two men stand at the doorway, but are out of focus in the frame which could suggest the character talking on the phone is much more important.
As the woman is speaking, a voice over begins to talk, and the scene changes to newspapers being printed out at a fast pace. We see cross-cutting images of a younger beautiful woman on covers of newspapers (and therefore presume this is who the voice is talking about). We then see a medium shot of a man sitting on a bed, typing on a typewriter. The voiceover continues and it is clear that they are introducing each of the characters. A wide shot of a party group shows a merry theme to the clip, but the music seems to be the same jumpy pace.
The music begins to grow quieter and we see a two-shot of a man and woman (middle aged) who are discussing the love life of the woman. Shot reverse shot is used as the couple speak to each other, and then a typical old film “kiss” happens and the voice over continues throughout the next few seconds of the frame.
A television studio is seen by the audience, and the voice over explains all about the “Hollywood story” which is about to take place. It then again crosses to different characters in different situations, all expressed in a black and white frame. The soundtrack gets more meaningful as a certain lady is shown on the seen and the camera tracks her movements. She is dressed in very upper class clothes and is covered in make-up. As different images of the same woman are portrayed to us, we realise that this woman “Norma” is likely to be the stereotypical character of “femme fatale” within this movie.
The lady “Norma” is sitting on a large sofa with a man looking down on her. We see his point of view from a high angle, and she is completely exposed to the audience. He talks to the lady in an angry and frustrated way which will most likely be developed throughout the film.
Asynchronous sound is heard through telephones and speech, and the frame is constantly cutting to another character, i.e. older actress to younger female on the phone.
Towards the end of the opening sequence, we see police cars and hear the incidental sounds of their sirens coming towards us in the frame, the voice over urges the audience to “come and see the film” which could mean that at some point it was used as a trailer to entice the viewers. The titles then again come down the page, in order to inform us on the producer, director etc.
The opening credits of Sunset Blvd start in a black and white context, with incidental sound of string instruments as the title reads “Announcing the most unusual motion picture in many years…”. A tilt shot follows the camera down to a kerb where it then reads “SUNSET BLVD” in a sort of film style font. A fast tracking shot sweeps across the screen backwards and names of actors in the film are then shown. The camera seems unsteady when moving, and gives a feeling of uncertainty- as does the jumpy non diegetic soundtrack played.
After a few characters names have been displayed from the credits, the shot changes and moves to a new scene outside a building. At the top of the frame we see “Paramount Presents” which is an official film making organisation and even at the time of the film (1950’s) it was a reputable company. The camera zooms towards the screen with sort of a camera lens feel (as it moves closer the outside of the frame turns black) and we see a crouded area of people with formal hats and some with cameras.
The scene changes again and we see an elderly looking woman, who seems to be dressed formally for the times and who is talking in a casual but forceful tone on the telephone. The props around the scene are an old fashioned telephone, a standing lamp, and ornaments. Two men stand at the doorway, but are out of focus in the frame which could suggest the character talking on the phone is much more important.
As the woman is speaking, a voice over begins to talk, and the scene changes to newspapers being printed out at a fast pace. We see cross-cutting images of a younger beautiful woman on covers of newspapers (and therefore presume this is who the voice is talking about). We then see a medium shot of a man sitting on a bed, typing on a typewriter. The voiceover continues and it is clear that they are introducing each of the characters. A wide shot of a party group shows a merry theme to the clip, but the music seems to be the same jumpy pace.
The music begins to grow quieter and we see a two-shot of a man and woman (middle aged) who are discussing the love life of the woman. Shot reverse shot is used as the couple speak to each other, and then a typical old film “kiss” happens and the voice over continues throughout the next few seconds of the frame.
A television studio is seen by the audience, and the voice over explains all about the “Hollywood story” which is about to take place. It then again crosses to different characters in different situations, all expressed in a black and white frame. The soundtrack gets more meaningful as a certain lady is shown on the seen and the camera tracks her movements. She is dressed in very upper class clothes and is covered in make-up. As different images of the same woman are portrayed to us, we realise that this woman “Norma” is likely to be the stereotypical character of “femme fatale” within this movie.
The lady “Norma” is sitting on a large sofa with a man looking down on her. We see his point of view from a high angle, and she is completely exposed to the audience. He talks to the lady in an angry and frustrated way which will most likely be developed throughout the film.
Asynchronous sound is heard through telephones and speech, and the frame is constantly cutting to another character, i.e. older actress to younger female on the phone.
Towards the end of the opening sequence, we see police cars and hear the incidental sounds of their sirens coming towards us in the frame, the voice over urges the audience to “come and see the film” which could mean that at some point it was used as a trailer to entice the viewers. The titles then again come down the page, in order to inform us on the producer, director etc.
Initial Ideas within the group
Idea 1
In the beginning we start with the credits. This is cross cutting with a person holding a camera in an eye line match. This person is running through a wooded area, panting and the camera keeps looking behind to show that they are running from something. The credits keep cutting with a calm but fast paced piano/brass piece over the top of the panting. The person then runs to hide and is killed. The credits end showing the title of the film. We then cut to the next day at a crime scene, the woman is dead and the inspectors are there investigating. The inspector is smoking. And at the end of our clip he flings the cigarette towards the body and walks away.
In the beginning we start with the credits. This is cross cutting with a person holding a camera in an eye line match. This person is running through a wooded area, panting and the camera keeps looking behind to show that they are running from something. The credits keep cutting with a calm but fast paced piano/brass piece over the top of the panting. The person then runs to hide and is killed. The credits end showing the title of the film. We then cut to the next day at a crime scene, the woman is dead and the inspectors are there investigating. The inspector is smoking. And at the end of our clip he flings the cigarette towards the body and walks away.
Thursday 21 January 2010
Introduction to AS Media Coursework
The choices for the AS Media Coursework are to make an opening sequence for either a horror film or a film noir. Our group, which contains myself, Chris Hodgson, Ashleigh Robinson and Josie Liddle, have decided to do a film noir and are now debating possible themes and ideas for the film clip.
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